Square Enix announces Master Thief, a special digital edition of Thief,
Eidos Montreal's upcoming stealth/action remake. This will be available in North
America on February 25, 2014, and it is already available for preorder from the
SQUARE ENIX Online Store and is also coming to other digital distributors.
Here's what it includes:

Official Digital Artbook - stunning concept
art that offers a sneak peek into the shadowy world of THIEF.

Digital Comic - Delve deeper into the
shroud surrounding Thief's obscure world with this complete collection of
digital comic books.

Booster Pack - Get access to an exclusive
bundle of optional in-game consumables that can empower you and hasten your
progression through THIEF.

THE BANK HEIST in-game mission:
Infiltrate the City’s most secure location, Stonemarket First Bank, to steal
a coveted family heirloom called the Star of Auldale. To this day, this
heavily guarded and treacherous place remains impregnable, but that’s about
to change…

Your first 2 parts of your comment, Jerykk.. I don't get them. Is it true that you really don't get the idea of "not being limited with manual jumping"? Of course the designers make it so that you really can't go where they don't want you to go -- while this isn't really so accurate, I've had lots of fun exploiting! -- but how you get from point A to B is greatly increased with manual jumping. Again, see my example.

Also, you keep bringing up THIRD person games that lack manual jumping without it impacting the game at all. Try the same with a FIRST person game and you've wasted your time.

If they allow you to jump whenever you need to jump, then why remove it all? Will I be constantly walking up to places, testing whether I can jump or not? "Can I jump here? Nope. Can I jump here? Nope. How about on top of this crate thats under a window of the building I'm trying to sneak into? Nope. Hmmm... I wonder WTF the developers intended for me to do here". Limiting where you can jump effectively makes this a corridor/rail shooter. We're only allowed to go where the designers want us to go. Exploration and finding multiple paths to exploit was part of the fun of the first two games (and an essential component of the gameplay) . This hand-holding and funneling the player through the map by limiting one of the most basic PC FPS and TPS game tenets is either console shit or shit map design (or both).

Designers will always control where you can go. They create the levels and place the collision volumes. Being able to jump won't let you get places the designers really don't want to let you go to. This was true of the previous Thief games. Having contextual actions doesn't mean your game has to be a corridor shooter. You can still create big, open, non-linear levels.

As for the clarity of contextual actions, that's up to the artists and designers. If there's a clear visual language and consistent rules associated with each action, you should never need to question whether or not you can do something.

While I agree that not being able to manually jump sucks, I don't think it's enough to ruin the game, provided that the implementation of contextual actions is done well enough. For example, in the first three Splinter Cell games, you could jump whenever you wanted. In the newest one (Blacklist), jumping/climbing/etc is contextual. However, thanks to good level design, I never missed manual jumping. Every action I could want to perform was accounted for in the contextual triggers.

Jerykk wrote on Sep 28, 2013, 19:31:As long as the designers make sure that you can always get where you want to go via contextual actions, the lack of jumping won't be a gamebreaker.

If they allow you to jump whenever you need to jump, then why remove it all? Will I be constantly walking up to places, testing whether I can jump or not? "Can I jump here? Nope. Can I jump here? Nope. How about on top of this crate thats under a window of the building I'm trying to sneak into? Nope. Hmmm... I wonder WTF the developers intended for me to do here". Limiting where you can jump effectively makes this a corridor/rail shooter. We're only allowed to go where the designers want us to go. Exploration and finding multiple paths to exploit was part of the fun of the first two games (and an essential component of the gameplay) . This hand-holding and funneling the player through the map by limiting one of the most basic PC FPS and TPS game tenets is either console shit or shit map design (or both).

Then again, it's possible the developers aren't really designing for a console controller, rather, they are designing for the millions of ADD-addled console dipshits taffers who will gladly pay to play this crap. You almost have to make it a rail shooter so they don't get lost. Not to worry though, console players. I'm sure there will be big yellow arrows pointing the way through the maps, and glowing items that are pickupable. Low on health? Again, don't sweat it. Just duck behind a crate for a few seconds while you magically regenerate.

Needless to say, I'm not interested in this one (any more). MajorD's comment kind of Deus Ex'd me to reinstall the first one, although I think I'll wait for the HD textures to be released in December. They're pretty.

Edit: Btw, lol at Nameless One's comment. I guess the rest of the game would be kind of anti-climatic, wouldn't it.

That I understand, Jerykk. But what seems to be either misunderstood or ignored (also in an earlier thread) is my example, which I personally find pretty strong. You can't jump&land onto a platform of your desire from up high. For example, I climbed on an exterior wall. I see a guard below but too far away to initiate a takedown. There are a pile of boxes between me and the guard that I could reach in a leap, followed by the takedown. <-- That action would be impossible due to the inability for manual jumping, which, compared to the older Thiefs, is very limiting.

But, as always, my temper tantrum got me in an awkward position. I agree that we can't really judge until we see enough gameplay or play the game ourselves. I still think it'll suck, but I can't know.

Quinn wrote on Sep 28, 2013, 02:59:I think I'm just gonna pirate this game and give away free copies just to fuck with Square Enix.

Isn't that a bit redundant? The pirated copy you'll obtain will already be available on the internet.

Anyway, while I agree that the lack of manual jumping is certainly lame, it's not necessarily a dealbreaker. If the designers put jump triggers in all the spots where jumping is useful, that might be tolerable. Definitely limits player agency and the potential for emergent gameplay but other stealth games have done this and still been good (like Splinter Cell and Hitman).

Of course it's redundant, and I won't be doing it. It's just my way to express myself during a tantrum

But for a FIRST PERSON game to remove the jump option is something else. I wanna jump on a bunch of boxes from up high to get a better advantage, for example.

The lack of manual jumping doesn't mean you won't be able to climb/mantle/vault onto things. There was plenty of that in the E3 demo. As long as the designers make sure that you can always get where you want to go via contextual actions, the lack of jumping won't be a gamebreaker.

Perhaps it has a mechanic like GOW where if you are close to a barrier, you can tuck into it. So if you are near a box, a ladder, a rail etc, instead of jump, it goes into an animation to obtain the same thing. There is plenty of time to bury this turd once we get a lot of solid gameplay to mull over.

I don't want to hate this thing straight up because of personal insecurities. I love the Thief series (all 3), been playing through 1 and 2 the past week, then on my way to 3. They are great, but there are plenty of ways to improve upon them. The bigger shame is that it's been forever since the last... And not all that, it's a shame someone else just didn't make their own. To me it's the gameplay that makes it great. Not the name, not even Garret's voice. Every game maker on the planet has had the opportunity to see it's greatness and make a better one. That is the bigger shame imo.

There are other games with sneak elements some real good, but nothing has been as good as where Thief has taken us and imo it only scratches surfaces. Pace and tension make great immersion.

Quinn wrote on Sep 28, 2013, 02:59:I think I'm just gonna pirate this game and give away free copies just to fuck with Square Enix.

Isn't that a bit redundant? The pirated copy you'll obtain will already be available on the internet.

Anyway, while I agree that the lack of manual jumping is certainly lame, it's not necessarily a dealbreaker. If the designers put jump triggers in all the spots where jumping is useful, that might be tolerable. Definitely limits player agency and the potential for emergent gameplay but other stealth games have done this and still been good (like Splinter Cell and Hitman).

Of course it's redundant, and I won't be doing it. It's just my way to express myself during a tantrum

But for a FIRST PERSON game to remove the jump option is something else. I wanna jump on a bunch of boxes from up high to get a better advantage, for example.

Quinn wrote on Sep 28, 2013, 02:59:I think I'm just gonna pirate this game and give away free copies just to fuck with Square Enix.

Isn't that a bit redundant? The pirated copy you'll obtain will already be available on the internet.

Anyway, while I agree that the lack of manual jumping is certainly lame, it's not necessarily a dealbreaker. If the designers put jump triggers in all the spots where jumping is useful, that might be tolerable. Definitely limits player agency and the potential for emergent gameplay but other stealth games have done this and still been good (like Splinter Cell and Hitman).